HOW FAITH FEST CAME ABOUT..........
We were on a very scary road for most of our lives. Since teenagers we started off with smoking , drinking and pretty much whatever we could get away with at the time.
Since then it has been a downward spiral into a dark life of drinking, drugs, parties and just not caring about anything or anyone.
Our lives pretty much revolved around getting as intoxicated as humanly possible.....
Over a year ago we opened Rock bar- our own personal playground - and everything spiralled out of control. We were at the bottom of the bottom and just could not go any further, except death (which seemed like a really good option at the time).
My uncle, aunt & cousins are christians and kept nagging us to just come once. We would just laugh as we were pagans at that stage.
Eventually we made the scariest jump, and went to church..... What happened the first day I could never put into words but God took hold of us and EVERYTHING changed in that instant.
No one can tell me that God is not real because I know that in the dark place I existed, no one and nothing could stop me. But when I went into that church I felt God and the change He made in us is too huge to explain in this life time.
There are not enough words to explain my love for the Lord and so all we can do is GIVE BACK and do God's work for his Kingdom.... and so we begin Faith Fest!!!
There is no reason that we can't celebrate & worship the Lord with all different types of music.
God has given people gifts to spread His word & Teach people about the Kingdom.
We are sharing our gift by putting this together.
All the bands playing at this fest are going to be sharing there gifts with us, so that we can grow, learn & experience God.
By God's Grace we were saved & set free..... There is no LOVE that great.
God designed us uniquely and gives us the freedom to express ourselves in worship & praise as individuals.
And this is what faith fest is all about!!!!!
Hope to see you there
God Bless
Casey & Craig
WHILL FROM THE HAMMER OF REDEMPTION
Testimony of Whill van Staden – going on 4 years Clean it’s not about me it’s about what Jesus did forward this mail it may help some one
I grew up in a Pastors house I knew allot about God I eventually did a 3 year Bible course In 1994 I joined a Christian Group I toured south Africa with them for four years doing shows radio and TV interviews spreading the news about Jesus letting the kids know you don’t need drugs or booze to party. It was the ultimate Christian life releasing 4 albums reaching thousands of kids.
But one day came and I left the band due to personal reasons .I was turning almost 20 and had no job it was devastating to see the band go without me but I had to go - I fell into deep depression went to see a doctor who put me the anti depressant Aropax. Six month later I started a Job my first ever and Kapow I was surrounded with worldly people - u know how it goes u meet people and you tell them where you from etc. Just in that one company so many people knew the band and had so many questions about drugs for example: how could we speak so boldly against it but we have never tried it we don’t know what it’s like - - - - hahahah and guess what I agreed with them
I blindly started seeing what these people were saying honestly at that time I did not care I hated Christians I saw them as a bunch of back stabbers (little did In know that I was the insecure one) Anyway with in my first month of that Job I started smoking and of course taking drugs first acid paper every weekend for almost a year and then it became acid, ecstasy and weed.
I totally turned against the church I did not want to go they hurt me big time, but in 1999 some church guy said stuff it bro I love you come to church with me I went back to this amazing youth my x band was going to play there for the 2000 new year’s party by that time I just stopped with the drugs but still smoked ....anyway I happened to meet a girl in the church we dated for longer than a year and I was clean until we broke up I started hearing stories in the church that I'm a heroin addict wow that was such a lie I have never touched that stuff....So I left the church again.
I just went in deeper into the world but God worked with me convicting me over and over again. Never the less I just kept on taking drugs every weekend. In 2003 I stared snorting cat en cocaine long story short I was befriending myself with the drug lords and was best mates with the dealers.
From 2003-2006 my world revolved around cat, cocaine, weed and the drug buttons. In that 3 years I tried so hard to stop but only managed to stop for less that 2 weeks - By that stage I was taking the stuff 3 to 4 days a week plus my by now I was on 2 anti depressants booze and cigarettes. I maxed 3 credit cards my life was a mess.
Now the good news 31 Jan 2006 I decided to stop and seek help with my loving families support. 2 weeks into rehab I realized that I need Christ - I got in contact with a friend of mine who walked a walk with me and until today I'm so thankful to him and his wife and family.....
Ok so where did I go wrong...
1) I knew allot about God BUT I did not know God
2) I took offence when the Christians hurt me - Goodness know I know God will sort them out it’s not my place to do so
3) In my Life before the drugs I was always seeking the goose bumps the touch of God I was not seeking GOD
4) I put my trust in the band and not Jesus
5) I held grudges
6) I though the Church is perfect it’s not – today I can say I’m also not perfect
7) I was insecure
Anyway in 2006 I said God here I am I'm yours I started putting Him first and His word say's if you put Him first then He will give you your hearts desires He did today I have it to prove it - I'm Married with a beautiful wife and I'm in a Hardcore band going where little believers dare to go we go in
and we bring Jesus to dark world we bring the light - light shines best in the dark people fruits are there to prove it......
Lastly
I hate religion and I'm free in Christ.
Treat others the way you want yourself treated .Pride comes before the crash the bigger your ego the harder your fall be friendly be approachable here comes the word - Love is patient; love is kind and envies no one. Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude; never selfish, not quick to take offense. There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope, and endurance. In a word, there are three things that last forever: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of them all is love
To be continued ………….
Rash From New Altum
Allah, Jesus & the Freedom to Rock out! – The testimony of Rash Ferguson (article published in TRUTH magazine)
From growing up as a religious Muslim to becoming a radical sold out Christian, frontman of New Altum, Rash Ferguson (previously Rasheed Moosajee) explains his journey from death to life, taking his family with him as he pushes forward in striving for a life of purpose ordained and pre-destined by Christ…
Well, basically I was born into a muslim family in 1981, it was the typical muslim family that took part in all the normal traditions like attending mosque, making salah (religious prayer at scheduled times), reading the quran etc. My mom and dad got divorced shortly after I was born (I was 2yrs old), my dad had a drug problem & was also abusive to my mother which caused them to separate. My relationship with my father was pretty much non-existent and if I try and remember now, I only recall seeing him a handful of times during my life up until now. The last time we spoke was on my 16th birthday 1997.
The lack of having a father around for most of my life unfortunately caused me to battle with rejection constantly & resulted in me trying to seek acceptance & affirmation in everything I did. I would make a concerted effort to try fit in & wear the trendiest clothing, hang with the “cool” kids & do what they did & try so hard to be somebody I just couldn’t be, all in aid of feeling accepted. My home life didn’t help much either. My mother had no support & had to raise my sister & I by herself which caused her to always be stressed out & not being able to give us the attention she so badly wanted to give us didn’t help either. We kind of understood, excepted the situation couldn’t change & just tried to live life the best we knew how, but the lack of parenting still played its part in my life.
In 1993 my life had a bit of a culture shock when my mom decided to move the family to Table View!..Up until then we had lived in places like Mitchells Plein, Landsdowne & Wetton (Gangstaz Paradise)..in Cape Town, so we were definitely out of our element. Anyways, as time moved on I found myself “again” feeling like the outcast & feeling rejected by my Pierre’s & so found that the same patterns were forming in my life as far as acceptance goes. My home life wasn’t the best at that stage, because of my closed up personality, I would struggle to communicate & interpret conversation properly which would cause me to always end up getting into fights with my mom or sister. It was at this time in my life when I decided to cry out to “God”.
Throughout my life I had always had an active prayer life & used to talk to God often, which wasn’t really the norm as far as being a muslim goes, but at this time especially I cried out to God to change my home situation, because it just seemed that nothing I did could make anybody any happier. I was bordering on depression & despite all my prayers to “God”, nothing changed & it was like praying to a brick wall.
So now here I sit, hopeless & confused as to why Allah would not help me despite my best efforts in trying to please him with my religious upbringing. It was then that I started questioning my Faith in Allah & Islam. After a countless number of questions all I was told by family & friends were to just live out the actions without worrying about what they mean, because Allah apparently honors that more. Needless to say I lost all hope in this fickle religion. Soon after I became friends with a guy at school that was a Christian. I never knew it at first, but what stood out to me about this guy was the mere fact that I really felt I could trust him & also felt like he had a sincere interest in who I was & what I was about. To cut a long story short, we eventually got onto the topic of religion verses relationship with God & what he had to say made sense to me. But what was more intense was not only did this guys advice ring true in my heart but he’s life demonstrated this life & love he was talking about. He eventually conned me into going to homecell & various other Christian socials where I met many people who were just like him!... About a month or two later he invited me to a Christian action stay awake at Table View High School & even though he assured me that I’d enjoy it, I was still kind of reluctant to go, but like the guy I was, I was gently persuaded to go by another “lady” friend. Funny how much power they have over us. Anyways, later that night after watching a three hour praise & worship set like a concert, one of the teachers got up & shared his testimony of how God changed his life. I’ll never forget it, it was like he was telling my life story & my heart began to race as he proceeded to offer an opportunity to except Jesus. With the consequences in mind of being totally discarded from my family, the urge inside me was too strong to back down & wanted this more than anything. So I stuck my hand up, went up for prayer & cried out about 16 years of bottled up tears. That was the first time in my life I’d ever felt a real touch from God.
Two weeks after my commitment to Jesus, I was still plagued by what my mother & sisters reaction would be if I told them. So I put it off as long as I could. It bothered me a lot until the night God put a seal on my faith in Christianity. I was trying to get to sleep the one night, everyone else was already & out of nowhere I hear a voice saying “you and your household shall be saved”. I immediately got up to check who it was, but everyone was asleep. I heard the same voice again & pretty freaked out after that I eventually fell asleep, only to find out the next day from my friend that Acts16:31 says “you and your household shall be saved”. God had spoken to me audibly!!!...I hadn’t opened a bible yet at that stage so I was assured that I heard from the living God. I finally found what I was looking for. I held onto that promise with everything I had & to my utter amazement, my mom approached me later that week regarding my “drastic” attitude change for the better. Everything came out that night but God had a plan. My mom & sister were distraught but because of what God did in my life they ended up wanting what I had. My mother out of her own, offered to join me at church one Sunday & gave her heart to God that very morning. My sister went on her own while I was away on a youth camp & also got saved, so my entire household was now saved, just like God promised.
After that, my mother re-married a Christian, had another son & my sister married a Christian guy as well & has two daughters now. As for me, coming from a previous life being everybody’s clone, God started birthing gifts & talents inside of me that I would find freedom in expressing for His Glory. Before I got saved, I hardly had any hobbies & always lacked confidence to try anything new, but after excepting Christ I fell in love with music & art.
Since 1997 I’ve been actively involved in music ministry in the Church & played in various bands out side of church as well. I’ve also run teen & young adult home cells & have been in various leadership positions & I now work full time at Assembly Of God Church in Table View as an Art Director & sing for Proxy Worship & a band called New Altum. The reason I’m telling you this is not to boast about myself but to rather encourage you that in your biggest weaknesses or incapability, God can use you & make you capable for his Glory. I was by no means a peoples person or confident enough to lead anybody, But I’ve realized that with God, anything is really possible & because of that I’ve dedicated my life to spreading his message of Hope, Love & Grace whether it be serving in the local Church or by Rocking out on stages where the average Church goers wouldn’t find themselves.
Everything I do is in honour of the One, who by His Grace alone, allows me to do what I do. For Him alone I live & in Him alone, my life has purpose.
By Rash Ferguson
